Rubber footwear.



L.'J. GROSKY.

RUBBER FOOTWEAR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.

Patented July 28, 191% f/HES SE 5 %J THE NORRIS PETERAS cn aiaoiuu rnoWASHINGTON. D4 cf UNITE-i) Specification of Letters Patent.

RUBBER FOOTWEAR.

Application filed'January 5, 1914., 7 Serial No. 818,282.

I i To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS J. GnosKY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Rubber Footwear, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to rubber footwear,

including overshoes, rubber boots and similar articles. 7 v v Thegeneral object of the invention is to greatly increase the length oflife of such footwear at a very slight increase in the cost ofmanufacture. To this end I provide in the heel portion of the footwear,embedded in the rubber device placed so as to extend beneathand aroundthe rear and sides of the heel of the wearers shoes, and I make thereinforcing device of such form that it may be efiectively vulcanized tothe rubber in which it isembedded, so that it can not shift and therebywear through the adjacent parts.

A further feature of my invention is that it provides a reinforcingdevice, one size of which may be used for several sizes of overshoes,with a resultant saving in cost of manufacture, and which is so shapedthat there will be no sharp corners to cut the rubber and fabric of theovershoe.

My invention is hereinafter more fully explained and the essentialcharacteristics set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1- is a perspec tive view of an overshoeequipped with my reinforcing device; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of theheel portion of such overshoe; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of thereinforc ing device, removed; Fig. 4: is an enlarged sectional detail ofthe heel portion.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, A indicates the body of the overshoe, B theunder portion of the heel thereof, G and D inner and outer sheets ofrubberized fabric constituting the usual wall, around the heel andeinthe.

bottom, and E an'inner heel seat above'the heel bottom. My reinforcingdevice consists of a scoop-shaped member having a bottom plate F and aLi -shaped wall G rising from the bottom edge of the bottom plate andinclining rearwardly, and shaped and proportioned to lie between thewall and This made bottom C and D of the overshoe. scoop-shapedreinforce is preferably thereof, a reinforcingrubberized fabrics.

little difference, for will be substantially PatentedJuly2e, 191e Therear portion of the wallG is extended upwardly to such a height that itwill reach well upon, if not above the leather heel of the'inner shoe ofthe wearer, and fromthe rear portion the upper edge ofthe wall slantsforwardly and is curved downwardly to the forward edge of the plate F.The corners between the plate F and the wall G are preferably rounded,as shown. In the bottom plateandside walls of this member are providedperforations H which are, filled with a tough rubber compound assho-wnat 1, Figs. 2 and 4, forming J and K, of this rubber compound, which arevulcanized to the walls C and D. The

rubber compound of the layers J and K is pressed into the perforations Huntil the rubber of one layer meets the rubber of the.

other, and is then vulcanized, forming in effect, a rivet through eachopening in the reinforce. This positively prevents the shifting of thereinforce, and thereby prevents the edges of the walls 4C. and D. Thereinforce is further prevented from shifting by knurling its sur-,

faces as shown at M formin 7 7 lb projections engaging the I rubberwhich" the reinforce is n IOfIIlQCl. To still inforcing .deviceto the adacent rubberized a part of layers 'metal from cutting or wearing througheither. of the more firmly secure the reof the contiguous This'lrnurling may be conveniently accomplished by knurling the- Ifiatstripv from fabric, the rubber of the contiguous rubber layers isvulcanized to thereinforce itself. Thisis made possible, when thereinforcing device is of metal, by putting the reinforce through a.rusting process, making it possible to cause the rubberto adhere veryfirmly to rVhen the reinforcing devlce is the metal. thus embedded inthe heel portion of the overshoe, and rubber is pressed into theperfor'ations, and the same is vulcanized, it con stitutes a unitarypart of the overshoe.-

I Ordinarily the heels of overshoes have to be very well fitted, to theshoe ofthe wearer in order to get even reasonable service from them.This "1s not the case with overshoes fitted with my reinforcing device,asit makes the wearing qualties the same whether the heel of the shoe isone, half the area ofthe heel of the rubber, as isvery frequently thecase with ladies shoes, orwhether it is 'substantially the same, as thestiffness of the reinforce causes the rubber of the overshoe to wearevenly, and the smallness of the inner heel does not cause it'to wearthrough any one spot of the heel of the overshoe. Accordingly, in makingthe overshoes which are fitted with my reinforce, the size of the heelsdoes not need to vary as greatly as with ordinary overshoes. I find thatby shaping the reinforce, as shown and described, that is in the form ofa scoop, that it may be fitted into heels varying somewhat in size, andit is only necessary to make .a small number of sizes of'reinforce tocover the necessary range of sizes of overshoes. For example, onereinforce substantially fitted for the heel of a size three and a halfovershoe, may be also used for sizes three and four. This obviates thenecessity of making a separate size of reinforce for each particularsize and width of heel, greatly reducing the number of sizes of diesrequired and accordingly, reducing the cost of manufacture.

My reinforcing device adds very slightly to the cost of the overshoe. Itis entirely invisible when in place. It efiectively protects theovershoe at its most vulnerable part, namely: the heel portion adjacentto the junction of the bottom and wall. The wear at the heel portion ofthe ordinary overshoe comes from two causes. First, the abrading of therubber by the corners of the heel, the uneven edges of worn heels andnails protruding from heels, second, the leather heel, particularly inthe case of ladies overshoes frequently does not reach the seat, so thatthere is a continual collapsing and extending of the rubber heel-wall,as the wearer steps. This bellows effect, so to speak, quickly cracksand breaks the heel wall. My reinforce protects against both of thesedangers The rough heels and projecting nails cannot reach the outerrubber, and the wall of the reinforce holds the heel portion in shape sothat the heel of the leather shoe sinks naturally to the heel seat, andthe bellows effect and the consequent wear and breakage is eliminated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination with an article of rubber footwear of a scoop-shapedreinforcing device embedded in the bottom and walls of the heel portionand having openings therethrough into which the rubber projects.

2. The combination with a rubber overshoe, of a scoop-shaped reinforcingdevice embedded in the bottom and wall of the heel portion and havingopenings therethrough filled with the rubber of the contiguousportionsof the overshoe, forming in effect rubber rivets through thereinforcing device.

3. The combination with a rubber overshoe, of a scoop-shaped unyieldingreinforcing device having a bottom and an integral wall rising from thesides thereof and embedded in the heel portion of the overshoe andhaving openings through the bottom and side walls, said openings beingfilled with the rubber of the contiguous parts.

4. The combination with a rubber overshoe, of a metal reinforcing deviceconsisting of a bottom and an integral wall rising from the sides andrear thereof, and having openings through the bottom and wall and beingembedded in the bottom and wall of the heel portion of the overshoe,said open ings being filled with the rubber of the contiguous layers ofthe overshoe, the rubber of said layers coming together within theopenings and being vulcanized.

5. Tl1e combination with a rubber overshoe, of a scoop-shaped metallicreinforcing ,device embedded in the bottom and wall of the heel portionof the overshoe and having openings therethrough, said openings beingfilled with the rubber of contiguous parts, the surface of saidreinforcing device being roughened by oxidation to permit vulcanizingthe rubber thereto.

The combination with a rubber overshoe, of a steel scoop-shapedreinforcing device embedded in the heel portion of the overshoe, thesurface of said device being rusted to permit vulcanizing the rubber ofthe overshoe thereto.

7. The combination with a rubber overshoe, of a scoop-shaped, unyieldingreinforcing device having a bottom and integral .walls rising from thesides thereof and embedded in the heel portion of the overshoe andhaving knurled surfaces engaging the rubber of the contiguous parts.

8. The combination with a rubber overshoe, of a steel scoop-shapedreinforcing device embedded in the heel portion of the overshoe, saiddevice having openings therethrough filled with the rubber of theovershoe and having knurled surfaces engaging the rubber of theovershoe, said device being rusted to permit the rubber of the overshoebeing vulcanized thereto.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

. LOUIS J. GROSKY.

Witnesses Gr. S. Animus, WILLIAM T.' RAwLINos.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for fivev cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

